Walton Montessori Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and secure at the nursery. They are all made to feel welcome when greeted at the door by friendly staff. Children settle promptly and transition through rooms confidently, with familiar staff whom they trust. Children are polite and considerate of others, sharing resources together and displaying good manners. Children benefit from exceptionally good bonds with staff, who foster warm and nurturing relationships with them.

Children take part in a variety of awe inspiring activities. They use a large selection of natural, open-ended resources, which encourage their imagination and exploration. A dedicated special educational needs coordinator gives effective and targeted support to children with emerging and additional needs. Children have opportunities to explore and develop new skills, both indoors and outdoors with well equipped rooms, garden and a forest school area. In the baby room, babies have opportunities to crawl, pull themselves to standing and toddle. Staff constantly talk to children and babies, modelling language during stimulating play activities and introducing new vocabulary. Children who speak English as an additional language hear their home language in the environment, for example staff can speak French in the pre-school room. Children choose resources and join in activities enthusiastically. For example, during the inspection, children hammered golf tees into a melon in preparation for hammering nails into wood in the future.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• The manager is aware of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the children's learning and development. For example, she knows that children need extra support with their speech and language and social development. The staff team worked effectively to provide children with resources during the pandemic. Therefore, families could continue children's learning at home to support their communication and language skills.
• There are strong partnerships with parents and carers. Staff exchange regular information with parents and carers and use this to plan activities that support children's interests. The key person obtains thorough information from parents prior to their child starting at the setting, to help support them from the start. Parents speak highly of the staff and compliment them for their kindness and for the thorough and effective handover.
• The staff provide a broad range of learning experiences that promote all areas of the curriculum. Children appear motivated to learn and engage for prolonged periods in activities. For example children perform a dragon dance outdoors to celebrate Chinese New Year. They practise a variety of movements and dance to the beat of instruments.
• There is strong support for children with additional or emerging needs. Staff support children through using adapted resources and ensuring that the toys and equipment are reflective of children's individualities. This helps them to feel welcome and included at the nursery.
• Staff do not always remind children of what is expected of them to keep themselves safe. For example, staff do not prompt children to swiftly sweep up sand they spill on the floor. They do not consistently remind children to walk rather than run to prevent them from slipping. As a result, children do not always learn to take action to help to keep themselves safe.
• Children are confident to try new things and engage with newly appointed staff for activities. For example, children participate in forest school activities, using flowers to dye fabric, hammering the flowers to release the colours. They learn how to use tools safely and notice changes when colours mix together.
• There are several new members of staff at the nursery. As a result, staff are still getting to know children and finding out how they can support their good progress. Consequently, staff are not always clear about how they can support children's next steps in learning.
• The manager has a strong vision for continually improving the provision. She monitors the curriculum effectively and is developing the new staff team. Staff receive support and ongoing supervision sessions. These contribute towards developing a training plan for each member of staff that helps them to build on their knowledge and skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide consistent guidance to children, so they know what is expected from them and can take steps to help keep themselves safe
• enhance the knowledge of new staff, so they know how to successfully implement the curriculum to meet the individual needs all children.